


The superhero and the super athlete

by Straumoy



Series: Power Girl Short Stories [3]
Category: Power Girl (Comics)
Genre: Drama, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-27
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 17:46:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5549690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Straumoy/pseuds/Straumoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karen Steele gives an interview regarding her comeback to sports, though the interview drifts away from the main subject and into dangerous territory.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The superhero and the super athlete

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: While confident in my writing, English isn't my main language. As such, typos and grammatical errors will show their ugly faces on occassion. If you spot a particular glaring one, please let me know and I'll fix it.

"It is a great pleasure to meet you in person, Ms Steele. I'm a great fan of your work." The young journalist stood up from his seat, offering his hand as Karen walked up to her chair. 

"Pleasure is all mine, Mr Denton." Karen gave him a warm smile, her right blue eye stood in sharp contrast with her left dark brown eye, yet they shined with a positive glimmer that could only be authentic. 

Taking their seats, Mr Denton's crew took a moment to fine adjust the lights and cameras, while an assistant helped setting up the small microphone, clipping it to the dark blue blouse that Karen wore. After a few tests and some tweaking, Mr Denton was given the okay by his crew and the interview could start in earnest. 

"So, gold in 100 metres hurdles, High jump, Shot put, 200 metres, Long jump, Javelin throw and silver in 800 metres. Is it safe to say that this is your best women's heptathlon to date?" Mr Denton asked, shifting his weight a little around in his chair, rapidly clicking on his pen half a dozen times while smiling sheepishly. 

"Yeah, the training was hell on Earth, but then again the results speaks for themselves." Karen replied, her voice tinted with a humble pride while she nodded in agreement. 

"Quite the comeback, considering you've been strangely absent from not just the sports, but the public in general for the past 2 years. Care to comment?" Mr Denton asked. 

"Not too heavy on the details as it's private, you understand." Karen started, moistening her lips as she cast a quick glance towards the ceiling as if looking for the right words. 

"Of course." Mr Denton replied quickly, eager to defuse the situation before it got even the slightest of tension. 

"But yes, I had some hard times personally and didn't... feel it, much to my sponsors outcry. I did argue however that it would hurt their brand much more if I went out there and delivered a sub-par performance." Karen said, a thin veil of sadness slid over her words, while her hands fidgeted around in her lap a little restlessly. 

"I can only imagine the... emotional turmoil you must have gone through at the loss of your son." Mr Denton's voice sank. "You don't hold any grudges against Power Girl?" 

"Not at all." Karen's response was as flat as it was blunt, though her dual colored eyes did betrayed a slight annoyance. 

"But she was the one responsible, wasn't she?" Mr Denton pressed. 

With a quick and somewhat frustrated puff of breath, Karen's frame twisted in her chair, shifting from open and friendly, to guarded and annoyed. Tension started to simmer while the crew held their breaths, waiting for Karen to reply to the question. Again she shifted a little restlessly and uncomfortably in her chair, running her fingers through her short, blond hair. 

"No, she wasn't." Karen's words came out as a sword being drawn out from its sheet, a cold, thin metallic screech. "Power Girl had nothing to do with the attack in Hong Kong. It wasn't her." 

"So you believe the tabloids then? That the US government has successfully created a human-kryptonian hybrid?" Mr Denton's question came out with a baffled look on his face, his tone almost mocking Karen's answer. 

"I fail to see how this is relevant to this interview." Karen said with a calm, if not bone chilling tone of voice. "Enlighten me, if you please." 

Mr Denton took a pause, exchanging glances with his crew members. Some were so lost in the tension that they ignored him completely, others gave him a silent nod while the reaming crew shrugged it off, mouthing an indifferent meh. It was risky, as Karen Steele only gave interviews once every 10th blue moon and if he blew it up now, he'd never hear the end of it from his boss. Actually he would hear the end of it, because he would most likely be fired as soon as his boss was done with his angry rant. 

"It's just that..." Mr Denton started, pausing in his words, biting on the end of his pen. "Your careers if you will, started around the same time and you've both been very successful, approving and supporting one another in the few interviews you given. The icing on the cake is of course that aside from your own heterochromia iridum you two look almost the same." 

She was slipping away, he could tell. Karen's legs were tensing up as if she started putting weight on them, ready to get up and walk out in a flash. Her face wore this mask of annoyed indifference, almost as if she view him and his questions as nothing more than a minor stone in her shoe. Nothing major, but enough to catch her attention and subsequently her annoyance. Her eyes went down, looking into her lap and rested there for a long minute before Karen relaxed. 

"Was there anything else you wanted to ask, Mr Denton?" Karen asked, her face seemed open and cheerful as the question rolled off her tongue. 

Mr Denton's mind raced from left to right before he finally settled on what he presumed to be the last question of the day: "If you could say something to Power Girl, face to face, what would it be?" 

"Not a goddamn word." Karen retorted with a disgusted puff. "I'd hold her, no bullshit sweet words, false promises that it's gonna be alright or anything of the sort." 

She bit the inner side of her lip, her face twitching between calm, collected composure and tears. "I'd just... hold her." Karen said, her voice cracking as she rose from her seat and left the room.


End file.
